US airlines feel under siege from Washington's new taxes and costly regulations

With new regulations that promise to increase airlines costs, and with proposed taxes and fees that will raise the cost of passenger travel, the US airline industry seems to be under siege from the US government at the very time the industry is pleading with Washington to help it out from the economic downturn.

A new departure tax that will cost Southwest and US Airways alone an estimated USD250 million, along with an proposed increase in the security fee has the industry up in arms saying they will conspire to force capacity cuts and the loss of 10,000 jobs along with 181,000 jobs within the travel supply chain.

But that is not the only thing worrying airlines considering new regulations making their way around Washington. The industry is objecting to the Notice of Proposed Rule making published by the Department of Transportation during the summer calling for airlines to begin reporting a host of ancillary fees rather than the few now required. Those include baggage and reservation change fees.